We enjoyed another tough-fought round in our February “Mud Month” Mini-Marathon last night and, while there were fewer upsets this time around, there were a number of games which came down to the final seconds of the G/45 d/5 time control. Below are the current standings and I’ll share the round 3 pairings next Wednesday, as usual. Please let me know asap if you need a bye next week—currently Aaron Cho, Jeff McGinnis and Andy Shih have made such a request.
We had several first-time visitors to the club last night, as well as some repeat visitors who are not playing in the tournament, which reinforces the need to keep out skittles room open for casual and blitz games during tournaments. I’m still trying to negotiate a larger room for the club but don’t know when/if that will happen. Thank you again to everyone for making the club the success that it is and please let me know if you have any questions about this or future tournaments (several people last night requested that we hold more rated events with longer time controls, like G/45, as one bit of recent feedback). Regards,
Our February “Mud-Month” Mini-Marathon kicked off this past Thursday with unprecedented interest—we have 42 players participating in this single-section rated event and, regrettably, I had to turn away another dozen or so people who wished to play for lack of room. This serves as an unsubtle reminder to register early for these tournaments until we can arrange for a larger/second room at our current location (I’m not yet willing to dedicate the skittles room to tournament play given all the other activities this space allows for during and after tournament games).
There were quite a few upsets in our first round, a not-unexpected result given our use of accelerated pairings for this and subsequent rounds, which make the initial matchups a little more even. I have the second round pairings in hand and like those matchups even better, so I’m hoping everyone is able to play next week (but I won’t release the pairings until Wednesday just in case there are late bye requests or withdrawals). Note that the “Group” column in the wall chart below is the player prize group, which was determined by rating before the start of play Thursday. As always, please let me know if you have questions or comments about this event and thank you again for playing with us! Regards,
The Menlo Park Chess Club will hold our first rated tournament of 2023 beginning Thursday, February 2nd, at 7pm, a four round USCF-rated Swiss-system event over four weeks using the dual-rated G/45 d/5 time control. This tournament is suitable for experienced players as well as newer US Chess members seeking to establish an over-the-board rating. (“Mud Month” comes from the Old English “Solmonath,” another name for February—it may also signify “Hearthcake Month” if you prefer Bede, though the former is more apropos to the Bay Area at present.) Details follow:
Format: Four round Swiss-system tournament in one section, one game per evening
Rounds: February 2nd, 9th, 16th, 23rd—games begin promptly at 7:00pm
Control: G/45 d/5 (dual-rated game of 45 minutes for each player plus a 5-second delay per move)
Entry Fee: $5 (PayPal: mark@drury.com; Venmo: @Mark-Drury-12), entire entry fee goes to the prize fund.
Prizes: Players will be divided into 3 or more groups based on rating and number of participants; the top scorer in each group wins the group’s share of the prize fund (any ties will split the cash prize).
Byes: Half-point byes are available for any round except the last
Register: Registration closed after the start of Round 2
Boards, sets and clocks will be provided by the Menlo Park Chess Club (bring a clock if you own one)
The Menlo Park Chess Club will hold our first rated tournament of 2023 beginning Thursday, February 2nd, at 7pm, a four round USCF-rated Swiss-system event over four weeks using the dual-rated G/45 d/5 time control. This tournament is suitable for experienced players as well as newer US Chess members seeking to establish an over-the-board rating. (“Mud Month” comes from the Old English “Solmonath,” another name for February—it may also signify “Hearthcake Month” if you prefer Bede, though the former is more apropos to the Bay Area at present.) Details follow:
Format: Four round Swiss-system tournament in one section, one game per evening
Rounds: February 2nd, 9th, 16th, 23rd—games begin promptly at 7:00pm
Control: G/45 d/5 (dual-rated game of 45 minutes for each player plus a 5-second delay per move)
Entry Fee: $5 (PayPal: mark@drury.com; Venmo: @Mark-Drury-12), entire entry fee goes to the prize fund.
Prizes: Players will be divided into 3 or more groups based on rating and number of participants; the top scorer in each group wins the group’s share of the prize fund (any ties will split the cash prize).
Byes: Half-point byes are available for any round except the last
Register: Registration closed after the start of Round 2
Boards, sets and clocks will be provided by the Menlo Park Chess Club (bring a clock if you own one)
The Menlo Park Chess Club will hold our first rated tournament of 2023 beginning Thursday, February 2nd, at 7pm, a four round USCF-rated Swiss-system event over four weeks using the dual-rated G/45 d/5 time control. This tournament is suitable for experienced players as well as newer US Chess members seeking to establish an over-the-board rating. (“Mud Month” comes from the Old English “Solmonath,” another name for February—it may also signify “Hearthcake Month” if you prefer Bede, though the former is more apropos to the Bay Area at present.) Details follow:
Format: Four round Swiss-system tournament in one section, one game per evening
Rounds: February 2nd, 9th, 16th, 23rd—games begin promptly at 7:00pm
Control: G/45 d/5 (dual-rated game of 45 minutes for each player plus a 5-second delay per move)
Entry Fee: $5 (PayPal: mark@drury.com; Venmo: @Mark-Drury-12), entire entry fee goes to the prize fund.
Prizes: Players will be divided into 3 or more groups based on rating and number of participants; the top scorer in each group wins the group’s share of the prize fund (any ties will split the cash prize).
Byes: Half-point byes are available for any round except the last
Register: Registrations are now closed for this tournament
Boards, sets and clocks will be provided by the Menlo Park Chess Club (bring a clock if you own one)
The Menlo Park Chess Club will hold our first rated tournament of 2023 beginning Thursday, February 2nd, at 7pm, a four round USCF-rated Swiss-system event over four weeks using the dual-rated G/45 d/5 time control. This tournament is suitable for experienced players as well as newer US Chess members seeking to establish an over-the-board rating. (“Mud Month” comes from the Old English “Solmonath,” another name for February—it may also signify “Hearthcake Month” if you prefer Bede, though the former is more apropos to the Bay Area at present.) Details follow:
Format: Four round Swiss-system tournament in one section, one game per evening
Rounds: February 2nd, 9th, 16th, 23rd—games begin promptly at 7:00pm
Control: G/45 d/5 (dual-rated game of 45 minutes for each player plus a 5-second delay per move)
Entry Fee: $5 (PayPal: mark@drury.com; Venmo: @Mark-Drury-12), entire entry fee goes to the prize fund.
Prizes: Players will be divided into 3 or more groups based on rating and number of participants; the top scorer in each group wins the group’s share of the prize fund (any ties will split the cash prize).
Byes: Half-point byes are available for any round except the last
Register: Please sign up in advance using the ‘Register’ button above
Boards, sets and clocks will be provided by the Menlo Park Chess Club (bring a clock if you own one)
We held our first blitz tournament of the year last night with 28 players participating in two sections. Section A, an 8-player round robin, was won by FM Shawnak Shivakumar with the statement score of 6.5 out of 7 points. Adithya Karavadi took second with 5 points and Alaric Stein rounded out the top three of this hard-fought group with 4.5 points.
Newcomer Samuel Agdamag won Section B, a 5-round Swiss event, with a score of 4.5 points, while Jörg Lamprecht, Kornél Csernaiand youthful Sahil Shivakumar tied for second with 4 points each. Congratulations to our winners—Shawnak and Samuel took home $25 Kepler’s Books gift certificates for their efforts—and thank you to everyone who joined us last night (including our five first-time visitors)!
I’ll send information later today or tomorrow about the USCF-rated tournament which begins next Thursday, a 4-round Swiss event in one section with a G/45 d/5 time control, and I hope many of you will be able to join us then. Regards,
We’ll hold our first blitz tournament of 2023, a free 4- or 5-round G/3+2 unrated event in two sections, assuming there are sufficient entries. Clock move (as opposed to touch move) and all other US Chess blitz rules apply. First place in each section wins a $25 Kepler’s gift certificate; ties will be settled with a G/3+0 playoff. The first round will begin promptly at 7:15–please register ahead of time via the button, above, or arrive no later than 7:00 to register on-site. Entries are limited to 32 players so register early if you plan to play.
Last night we held another single-section Swiss-system blitz tournament, a G/3+2 affair with 24 players and, as with last week, Kunal Modi mowed through the field for another perfect 5 of 5 result. Adam Stevens and Aaron Cho tied for second with 4 points and all three received $25 Kepler’s Books gift certificates for their exertions. Congratulations to our winners and thank you to everyone who participated in this event, our last of the year!
It’s hard to believe the club will observe its one year anniversary when we next meet January 5th and it has been far more successful than I would have imagined in January or February of this year. For my part, the greatest reward is meeting so many of you fine people, both at the club and online. Thank you for your participation and support over the course of the year, have a great Holiday season and a safe New Year and here’s hoping next year will be even better! Regards,
Our final meeting and tournament of 2022, we’ll play 5 or 6 rounds of G/3+2 blitz in a single Swiss section or, depending upon turnout, we may hold 4- or 6-person round robins based on rating (or some estimation thereof). We’ll begin promptly at 7:15pm so please register ahead of time via the button on this page or arrive no later than 7:00pm Wednesday if you plan to play in this event. Registration is free, the tournament will be limited to 36 players and prizes include Kepler’s Books gift certificates.
